Parathyroid Hormone Serum Levels and Mortality among Hemodialysis Patients in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: Results from the DOPPS (2012-2018).

Background: The prospective Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) has collected data since 2012 in all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates). We report the relationship of PTH with mortality in this largest GCC cohort of patients on hemodialysis studied to date.

Methods: Data were from randomly selected national samples of hemodialysis facilities in GCC-DOPPS phases 5 and 6 (2012-2018).

Public Awareness of Knowledge, Belief, and Attitude Regarding Organ Donation and Organ Transplantation: A National Survey From the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Organ donation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was restricted until recently to living donation. This survey was conducted to explore the public knowledge, belief, and attitude regarding donation during life and after death.

Methodology: A 31-item survey was distributed among 900 participants (UAE residents) of whom 495 completed the forms and were considered for further analysis.

What we know and do not know about women and kidney diseases; Questions unanswered and answers unquestioned: Reflection on World Kidney Day and International Woman's Day.

Chronic kidney disease affects approximately 10% of the world's adult population: it is within the top 20 causes of death worldwide, and its impact on patients and their families can be devastating. World Kidney Day and International Women's Day in 2018 coincide, thus offering an opportunity to reflect on the importance of women's health and specifically women's kidney health on the community and the next generations, as well as to strive to be more curious about the unique aspects of kidney disease in women so that we may apply those learnings more broadly. Girls and women, who make up approximately 50% of the world's population, are important contributors to society and their families.

Management of Patients Who Receive an Organ Transplant Abroad and Return Home for Follow-up Care: Recommendations From the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group.

Eradicating transplant tourism depends on complex solutions that include efforts to progress towards self-sufficiency in transplantation. Meanwhile, professionals and authorities are faced with medical, legal, and ethical problems raised by patients who return home after receiving an organ transplant abroad, particularly when the organ has been obtained through illegitimate means. In 2016, the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group convened an international, multidisciplinary workshop in Madrid, Spain, to address these challenges and provide recommendations for the management of these patients, which are presented in this paper.

Consensus clinical recommendations for the management of plasma lipid disorders in the Middle East.

Background: Plasma lipid disorders are key risk factors for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and are prevalent in the Middle East, with rates increasing in recent decades. Despite this, no region-specific guidelines for managing plasma lipids exist and there is a lack of use of guidelines developed in other regions.

Methods: A multidisciplinary panel of regional experts was convened to develop consensus clinical recommendations for the management of plasma lipids in the Middle East.

Prevention of Transnational Transplant-Related Crimes-What More Can be Done?

Background: Many nations are able to prosecute transplant-related crimes committed in their territory, but transplant recipients, organ sellers and brokers, and transplant professionals may escape prosecution by engaging in these practices in foreign locations where they judge the risk of criminal investigation and prosecution to be remote.

Methods: The Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group convened an international working group to evaluate the possible role of extraterritorial jurisdiction in strengthening the enforcement of existing laws governing transplant-related crimes across national boundaries. Potential practical and ethical concerns about the use of extraterritorial jurisdiction were examined, and possible responses were explored.

Adaptation and implementation of the "Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO)" guidelines for evaluation and management of mineral and bone disorders in chronic kidney disease for practice in the Middle East countries.

This review presents the views of an expert group of nephrologists from the Middle East along with an international expert on adaptation and implementation of the 2009 Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines for evaluation and manage-ment of mineral and bone disorders in chronic kidney disease (CKD-MBD) for practice in the Middle East countries. The members of the panel examined the KDIGO guidelines and formulated recommendations that can be implemented practically for the management of CKD-MBD in the Middle East. There was a broad agreement on most of the recommendations made by the KDIGO work-group.

Vaccination and transient hepatitis B surface antigenemia.

Hepatitis B vaccination is mandatory for all hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative hemodialysis (HD) patients with low hepatitis B surface antibody titers. We report a case of transient hepatitis B surface antigenemia, detected incidentally, in an HD patient after the second dose of Hepatitis B vaccine. The patient had to be isolated on a separate HD machine, in a separate room, until further investigations ruled out a true hepatitis B virus infection.

Plasma N terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels and its determinants in a multi-ethnic population.

This study documents the determinants and plasma levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) among hypertensive and normotensive subjects in a multi-ethnic population in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We obtained demographic, anthropometric and clinical data, together with fasting NT-proBNP and biochemical indices from 128 hypertensive patients and 138 normotensive subjects matched for age, gender and ethnicity. Plasma NT-proBNP levels were significantly (P<0.

Low IGF-1 levels are associated with cardiovascular risk factors in haemodialysis patients.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) constitute a significant risk and may, in part, explain the high morbidity and mortality rates among haemodialysis (HD) patients. Several studies have implicated reduced insulin like growth factor (IGF-1) levels in the development of CVD. However, it is not clear whether IGF-1, and its relationship with other hormones such as leptin, insulin, and growth hormone (GH), as well as anthropometric variables may explain the high incidence of vascular complications in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.

Levels of cholesteryl esters and other lipids in the plasma of patients with end-stage renal failure.

Background: The importance of plasma lipid abnormalities in chronic renal failure (CRF) is well recognized, but surprisingly little attention has been given to the study of some plasma lipid fractions, including cholesteryl esters (CE) and phospholipids, which might be expected to be important factors in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Materials And Methods: Fasting blood samples were taken from 25 control subjects and 53 CRF patients (29 predialysis and 24 on hemodialysis). Samples were analyzed for urea nitrogen, creatinine, triacylglycerols, total and individual phospholipids, total and free cholesterol, as well as cholesterol bound to very low-, low- and highdensity lipoproteins (VLDL, LDL and HDL).

Interrelation between Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.

Features suggestive of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) are known to occur in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report a patient who had TTP which resolved with plasma exchange and immunosuppression, but presented three years later with features of SLE. The diagnosis satisfied all the required criteria in both instances.